TLRH | Elizabeth C. Yeats, the Cuala Press and 'Art Printing'

Tuesday, 18 May 2021, 1 – 2pm A lecture by Dr Angela Griffith
organised by the Manuscript, Book and Print Cultures Research Theme
in partnership with the Trinity Long Room Hub. Elizabeth Corbet
Yeats used the term ‘art printing’ to describe the work of the
Cuala Press. She promoted the press as a hand-craft enterprise, one
that celebrated the best of Irish materials and skills. Under
Yeats’ stewardship, the Cuala Press became a space where Irish
artists had the opportunity to work in printmaking and to promote
themselves professionally. This paper will explore the artistry of
the prints produced, many of which were designed by her brother the
painter Jack Yeats. It will examine the processes involved,
including those that were at odds with other contemporary private
press practices. It will also consider the aesthetic agenda of the
press within the wider contexts of the period from its foundation
in 1908, a time of political, social and cultural change in
Ireland. Angela Griffith is an assistant professor with the
Department of the History of Art and Architecture, TCD and is
director of the Irish Art Research Centre, TCD. Recent and ongoing
research; Cuala Press Project, Schooner Foundation 2020-2023,
principal investigator in partnership with Trinity College Library,
Making their Mark; Irish Painter-Etchers 1880-1930, (Dublin 2019)
(co-author, and co-curator of National Gallery of Ireland
exhibition of same title), Harry Clarke; Artistic Visions of the
New Irish State, (Dublin, 2018) (co-editor). Learn more at:
https://www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub/